Toxins
by joy24
Summary: This is a series of one shots that focus on exploring elements of Scarecrow's character and his victim's experiences. This series is composed of flash fiction experiments that will trend toward the suspense, horror, and crime genres.
1. Ghost Dog

Pat James walked with his little brother, Max, home after soccer practice. Upon entering his home Pat switched the kitchen light for, so that his brother may finish his homework. Afterwards, he traveled into the den and settled down to catch his favorite show "District Noir."

10 minutes into the show, Pat noticed that his mom left the den window cracked open. Paranoid, he got up and investigated the widow, pushing it up and down to see if it felt looser than normal. When Pat concluded that nothing seemed out of the norm with the widow, a strange aroma hit his nose. The aroma smelled flowery with an itchy twang like lavender. Pat cough then sneezed, shutting the widow soon afterwards. He assumed that his next door neighbor, Ms. Pam, planted a new type of flower in her garden.

Still paranoid, Pat proceeded to check and double checked all the rooms in his home. When he found nothing suspicious or out of place he returned to the den. Reclining back in the couch and zoning his attention into the show.

An odd tapping sound drew Pat's attention to the kitchen's entrance. When he saw nothing he stood for a better view, only to immediately retreat in horror to the opposite side of the den. Pat climbed on top of the den's recliner wide eyed.

It was a neighbor's dog, Berlin, Mr. June's one eyed German Sheppard. The beast was senile past due to be put down. Pat's memory of the old fanged creature tearing into him as a kid resurfaced. While he was playing Frisbee with a friend he had fallen through a loose wooden plank in Mr. Junes' gate. That's when the retired police dog got him. Pat made it a mission to avoid passing Mr. Junes house ever since.

Pat figured that the dog had gotten loose again and Max probably failed to shut the kitchen door all the way after he entered. Speaking of Max, Pat was determined to keep the beast away from him. Pat jumps down from the recliner dashing toward the back door. He could hear the barking and snarling as he fiddled with the door lock. Finally he unlocked it and dashed out with the dog's mouth barely missing his shirt.

Pat dashed around his home to his open front door. He could feel Berlin snapping at his heals. Pat slams the door in the dog's face hearing it whimper. Pat then dashed toward the back door, seeing the angry dog round the corner before slamming it shut.

Relieved Pat checks the kitchen for his brother. When he didn't see him Pat proceeded to search his house for his brother. He called his named several times but he received no answer. He saw no sign of his little brother at all. It was odd; Max's home work was left half way finished. Before Pat would allow himself to panic he called his neighbors. Maybe Max escaped to a neighbor's house when Berlin entered their home.

Ms. Pam picks up the phone.

"Hello, Ms. Pam" Pat tried not sound alarmed.

"Hey Pat, is there a reason why you locked your brother outside of your house?"

Pat blanked- twice. "What?"

"Yeah, he said he seemed have frighten you and you ran out the house through the back door. He tried to keep up with you but slammed the front door in his face. He tried for the back door too but you shut it before he could get to it."

Pat didn't believe what he was hearing "What?"

"Pat, are you ok? Would you like to come over and chat?"

Pat blanked again still confused at what he just heard but he decided to dwell on it later. "Y-yeah it would be better for me to explain and apologize Max in person. I am on my way Ms. Pam Thank you."

With that he hung up, grabbing his keys off the kitchen table. Pat paused for a second at the front door, analyzing the world around him. He turned on his phone flash light looking down at the floor for dog tracks. He saw none. He checks the den's carpet for any paw prints and he saw none.

Of course that is not the nail in the coffin dogs don't always track dirt or mud into houses but…

Pat exits the front door, walking around his home looking for any fresh paw prints, particular in his mom's floral decorations. He found none.

Giving up, he traveled to Ms. Pam's house with his head down, unsure of how to explain his actions to his brother.

…..…..

Later in an unknown location

Jonathan Crane reclined in his office seat, as he concluded the last on his observations in his note pad. He smiled to himself. He left no signature of his presence being at the James's house and the potency of his new toxin was 'gentle'. It might not have any residual effects.

Crane wondered if Pat would try to search for answers. Would Pat allow his doubts to haunt him and frail him? The results would yield long term but Crane might check in on boy once in a while.

Upcoming: Chapter2 Trail 2: Crane personally ensures that his next test subject suffers far more than his first.

 _A/N: At some point you have to stop over thinking what your writing, stop second guessing your decisions, simplify your goals, and get it done. I've placed time limits on myself for these flash fictions. I feel like the discipline of this is important for me to practice. Though, due to finals, I plan to post chapter 2 within the next 2- 3 weeks. Sorry._

 _Critiques are appreciated, thanks._


	2. The Dancing Man

Roberto Dennis returned home after a long day of internship at the Gotham Art Gallery. He placed his book bag on the dining room table and trailed up the stairs to his bathroom. When Roberto reached the upstairs a strong flowery smell hit his nose. His sister, Jan, must have bought a new perfume. She always loved to douse herself in too much of it.

When he flipped his bathroom lights on, he stared eyes wide in his mirror. He was sure that he saw a figure behind him in the entrance. He didn't dare turn around. He remembered this pattern. His mind usually played these games with him, whenever he was spooked.

Roberto was a visionary creative; he could see his imaginings in front of him clearly and vividly. It made drawing easy but sleep was often impossible whenever his anxiety riled up.

The figure was that of the dancing man, an old nightmare that hunted him as a kid. It started after one night at his sister's dance practice. He was curious to see what was behind a door at the back of the dance hall. After sneaking through it he, to his disappointment, only found a hall lit with a dim light at the other end of it. Before Roberto could return through the door he saw a tall pale lanky figure in a purple sparkly suit slide inhumanly into and out of the dim light. Roberto sobbed and ran.

Even after, his family proved to him that the man he saw was one of the dance students at hall, Roberto still suffered nightmares from the incident. To this day he would occasionally see the dancing figure at night in his home watching him. If he ever allowed his anxiety to build up too much the dancing man would animate. His mind would show him the figure moving in his peripheral vision, it gliding across the floor with rhythmic grace; or it creeping closer to him as he would try to focus on his work. If he'd turned his back to open air his nerves would tell him that the figure hovered behind him. Whenever he heard a sudden noise his eyes would place the figure near the source of the cause.

Now here it was again, he stares at the man standing in his bathroom doorway in his mirror. Its grayscale skin in contrasting its sparkly purple dance outfit, its hollowed eyes leered at him. The nightmare seemed taller than usual which Roberto initially found odd, but he quickly dismissed it as his brain playing tricks on him. The figure smiled at him playfully. Roberto refused to turn around, least his mind prompts the figure to behave in a way that would cause him lose sleep for weeks. No, he will remain where he was, no matter what it does.

The figure lumbered toward him stopping inches behind him. Roberto felt the hairs on his back raise. His eyes widen in awe at the height of the figure. Normally, the dancing man would be around his height, a detail that stayed consistent even as he grew up. Now, it looms over him, his head barely reaching the figure's chest. Roberto for a second questioned the heat source on the back of his neck. It was his nerves, right? If not…

Roberto swung around thrusting his fist toward the figure. The towering giant bent out of his way. Why would it dodge? It's a hallucination. Right? As he observed the figure he noted how elongated its proportions were. It was more lanky than usual. Roberto thought back to how the figure moved, he noted its grace. It not the same grace it normally has, it lack the ethereal nature of its norm. In fact the movement was human enough...

"Who are you?" Roberto asked

Roberto jumped at the man's chuckle; it reverberated against the bathroom walls. He admittedly was not expecting a response, but he quickly gathered his bearings and ran. He dove past the figure down the stairs and out of the front door. He cursed himself for leaving his phone on the dining room table as he dashed across the street to a neighbor's apartment.

Roberto understood there was a 50% chance that he imagine the whole thing , but this would not be the first time Roberto's brain has hallucinated over what was actually there. His brother, Tom, used to prank and tease him for being easily startled. Until one night, Tom surprised him in his room and he screamed and ran as his brother chased him. Even after the chase ended and Tom was trying to calm him down, Roberto could only see his brother as the dancing man. He could not comprehend the world as it was until hours later after his anxiety settled.

Besides, in Gotham it was always safer to call the police then ignore the possibility of danger.

Jonathan Crane stood on an apartment roof next to the home of Roberto Dennis. The chaos at the scene taking place blow tickled him. He left no evidence of his presence there. Regardless though, the mysterious spooking of Mr. Dennis will raise red flags. The police will likely have the Scarecrow at the top of their suspect list for a while; which was not an issue for him as he has business to complete out of town. It would be a while before he would return to Gotham.

Jonathan always enjoyed his mini-adventures. They were his side hobby to train his intellect and to study the many different ways the human mind can observe, patternize, and function.

21 year old Roberto Dennis was a sophomore college student majoring 2d Illustration and VFX Art at Gotham's Art Institute. He possessed a strong gift to visualize his creations as if they are real and replicate them as an illustration. In addition to this, Roberto suffers from phobophobia the fear of fear or rather the fear experiencing a symptom of fear, specifically a hallucination that he sees.

The hallucination according to Dennis's mental health records, personal journals, sketches and paintings, was that of a lanky ghostly man dress in a glittery purple suit and black dance shoes. The boy's predisposition and ability to convey his mental images made him an excellent subject to teach Crane more about the mind.

So, as his first experiment Crane used a light enough dose of fear toxin to only heighten Roberto's emotion of fear. He theorized that due to Dennis's history, in a state of hyper anxiety the boy might struggle with discerning fiction from reality. Crane revealed his presence to the Dennis to gage how severe the boy's anxiety would affect his perception of the world. Crane was surprised when Dennis failed to immediately realize he was real. Roberto should have still been able see an actual threat, but his anxiety seemed hyper focused on his imaginary demon.

Crane was positive that Dennis did not visibly see him in his bathroom; he was seeing the dancing man. Interestingly, it seemed that Dennis did notice his height. Perhaps, the figure took Crane's physique in Dennis' head? Crane also found it impressive, that Dennis was able to determine from analyzing his movements that something was off. It seemed the boy was so intimately familiar with the form and behavior of the imaginary dancing man that he can recognize when something about it was not 'normal'. A _fascinating_ detail revealed about Dennis's gifted mind in tonight's experiment.

Crane anticipates continuing his study when he returns back in town.

A/N: Here is story 2. It may or may not have a part 2, I'll see in the future. Other than that chapter 3 will be around sometime in the next 1- 3 weeks. Sorry for the big gap I am unsure of my schedule at the moment.


End file.
